


Haunted House

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 10:52:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13611834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: There's a haunted house in Cascade





	Haunted House

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2018 Sentinel bingo prompt 'haunted house'

Haunted House

by bluewolf

The 'House on the Hill' had a reputation for being haunted; well, with a name like that what else would anyone expect? It had been standing empty for fully twenty years, its owner in prison for the murder of his wife; he refused to authorize its sale, saying that when he was exonerated and released he would go home - but despite his continued pleas of innocence the entire legal system of Cascade knew that there was no doubt of his guilt.

The ghost - of course - was that of the murdered wife.

But in recent months, the haunting had become more obvious. Spending the evening on its grounds - the entire night if they could escape parental eyes - was a rite of passage for many of the teenage boys of the city. But spending time there when nothing was happening, when they were simply frightening each other with ghost stories, was one thing; more recently flashing lights had been seen, and weird noises heard.

There was something in the house.

The Mayor brought the situation to the attention of Major Crime, and Simon called in his top team - Ellison and Sandburg.

"I heard about that," Blair said. "Two of my students were talking about it a couple of days ago - apparently they'd just spent a night there and were freaked out by sounds inside the place. They hadn't seen anyone, just heard voices, too faint to make out any specific words. I thought they'd probably just been hearing sounds, not necessarily voices, from somewhere else, carried on the wind."

"I think we need to pay the place a visit tonight," Jim said.

***

Once it was dark, Jim and Blair made their way to the House on the Hill. They left the truck near the entrance, noting that the gates were open - though that could have been done at any time by the teens visiting the place to show their courage.

They moved quickly up the drive, staying close to the bushes that had grown close to it in the preceding twenty years so that they could remain unseen if there were any teens there that night.

Suddenly Jim stopped, and Blair, following close behind, stopped as well.

"There's a trip wire here," Jim breathed.

"Since when did ghosts need to be warned about anyone coming by using a trip wire?" Blair muttered.

They stepped carefully over it and carried on. As they reached the front door, they stopped. Blair knew from the look on Jim's face that he was concentrating and put a hand on one arm.

"There are several people inside," Jim murmured. He looked at the door, then went on, "Let's see if there's another way in."

There was. At the side they found an open window, and after Jim checked it for any wires, climbed in.

The door of the room they'd entered was shut, but again Jim found no sign of any early warning system, so they eased it open and went into the corridor outside.

"This way," Jim said, and headed down the corridor. By now even Blair could hear voices. Jim stopped at another door and drew his gun. Then he threw the door open.

The room was curtained, and fairly dimly lit by a lantern. Inside, the voices stopped abruptly, and the four young men sitting there sat up, staring at the intruders.

"Good evening, gentlemen," Jim said, careful to let them see his gun. "I assume you have authority to be here?"

It didn't take long for the group to admit that they were homeless, all runaways from an abusive situation, and had thought that making a home for themselves in an apparently derelict house was preferable to sleeping on the street.

"And you took advantage of the house's haunted reputation?" Jim asked. At their slightly abashed nods, he went on, "Well, even though he's in prison, I doubt the owner will be too happy with you. How old are you, anyway?"

The oldest turned out to be barely fifteen.

"All right," Jim told them. "Get your things together, whatever you have. You're all young enough that Social Services can find somewhere for you." A quick glance at Blair was enough to have the younger man pulling out his cell phone.

While Blair called Social Services, Jim supervised the youths gathering their few possessions. Pre-warned by a bell ringing, Blair answered the knock on the door, and they watched the youngsters being taken away. Jim went back to the window by which they had entered and closed it, then he and Blair made sure the electricity was switched off – although with the house empty the supply was sure to have been cut off - and went out of the front door, locking the Yale on it as they went, and walked back down the drive to the truck.

Once home, they phoned Simon to tell him the case was solved, then settled down, beer in hand, to relax for what was left of the evening.


End file.
